Car-door bracket



Patented Juiy 26, I898.

No. 607,85I.

J. HUDGE.

GAR DOOR BRACKET.

(Application filed Oct 1 1894 (No Model.)

l =255222mm one at each side of the door.

PATENT FFICE.

JOHN I'IODGE, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.

CAR-DOOR BRACKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 607,851, dated July 26, 1898.

Application filed October 1, 1894. Serial No. 524,689. [No model.)

T0 at whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN HODGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brackets for Freight Car Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a car and of a pair of the brackets in place thereon. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof, on a larger scale, on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section thereof on the line 3' 3, Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5 are views showing modifications.

Oustomarily the door of a freight-car is supported by hangers which are secured to the upper edge of the door and engage a track located underthe eaves of the car-roof, an attachment of some sort being used for engaging the bottom of the door and preventing it from swinging outward from the side of the car. A' familiar type of this attache ment is a bracket secured to the side of the car and having an offset portion which projects upward in front of the door. Heretofore it has been the custom to secure this bracket in place by means-of bolts or screws the heads of which are accessible at all times, and the objection to this is that thieves may remove the attachment, swing the bottom of the door outward, and enter the car. The present invention relates to brackets of this class; and its object is to provide a bracket of such construction that it covers and protects the anchor by which it is secured in place.

To this end the invention consists in the features of novelty that are particularly pointed out in the claims hereinafter.

, In the drawings, A represents the siding, and B one of the side sills, of the car.

0 represents the sliding door, D the hangers, and E the track upon which they are hung.

F are the brackets, two of which are used, Each of these brackets consists of a plate having an offset portion f, which projects upward in front of the door. It is securedto the car-body by the customary bolts f having exposed heads,

and in addition to these bolts it is secured by another device, hereinafter called an anchor, which is inaccessible so long as the door remains closed, even though the boltsf be removed, and it is in this anchor that the present invention resides. In the drawings I have shown it under three different modifications, but desire to have it understood that in its broadest aspect the present invention is not limited to any of them. I believe myself to be the first to secure this bracket by means of an anchor which is separable from the bracket and is covered and protected, by the bracket, and I do not confine myself to an anchor of any particular construction. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the bracket F is provided in its back with an undercut groove,which preferably tapers from top to bottom, being wider at bottom than at top; but this taper is not essential. The groove extends quite to the bottom edge, but not to the top edge of the bracket, or, in other words, it is closed at its upper end. This groove receives the correspondingly-shaped head 9 of a block G, which is let into the siding of the car, so as to prevent it from turning, and is perforated for the passage of a suitable fastening devicesuch as,for eXample,a bolt Hand the bracket F is provided with an auxiliary groove at the bottom of the groove first aforesaid for receiving the head of the bolt and preventing it from turning. In applying the bracket the anchor (consisting of the block G and bolt H) is first secured in place with its smaller end uppermost, and then the bracket F is slipped onto the anchor from above and secured by the bolts f. Since the bracket F can be removed from the anchor only by an upward movement, it follows that the door being above the bracket while closed the bracket cannot be removed without first opening the door.

- I prefer to use an anchor havinga separate non-circular head, such as the block G, because it may be so secured in place that it cannot be turned, and of course unless it is turned the bracketF cannot be turned so as to disengage its projection 1" from the cardoor. This separate head may, however, be

dispensed with and the bracket anchored to a bolt or screw orsimilar device projecting from the side of the car, as shown at I in Figs.

IOO

4 and 5. In this case the head of the bolt or screw and the groove in the bracket may be of any desired shape so long as they conform to each other, it being understood that the upper end of the groove is closed, so that the bracket can be disengaged from the head of the bolt or screw only by an upward movement. \Vith an anchor of this sort, unless some means were provided to prevent it, it would be possible after removing the bolts or screws f to turn the bracket F until the projection f had been disengaged from the cardoor, but by providing the bracket with a long bearing f which is adapted to come against the bottom of the door, this is prevented. This long bearing or a similar device is essential where the anchor can be turned, and while it may be dispensed with where the anchor is held against turning still even in this latter case I prefer to use it.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination with a car-door, of an attachment for preventing it from swinging outward, said attachment comprising a bracket provided in its back with a socket, an anchor separable from the bracket, secured to the side of the car and having a head occupying said socket, the head of the anchor being covered by the bracket, and means for preventing the disengagement of the bracket and anchor so long as the door is closed, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a car-door, of an attachment for preventing it from swinging outward, said attachment comprising a bracket and an anchor separable from each other, the bracket having in its back an undercut groove and the anchor ahead occupy ing said groove so that they may be engaged and disengaged by sliding one upon the other, the anchor being secured to the side of the car and covered by the bracket, and means for preventing the disengagement of the bracket and anchor so long as the door is closed, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a car-door of an attachment for preventing it from swinging outward, said attachment comprising a bracket adapted to engage the door, an anchor non-rotatively secured to the side of the car and having a non-rotative engagement with the bracket, and means for preventing the separation of the bracket and anchor so long as the car-door is closed, substantially as set forth.

4:. The combination with a car-door of an attachment for preventing it from swinging outward, said attachment comprising a bracket adapted to engage the door, an anchor separable therefrom secured to the side of the car, and means whereby said anchor and bracket have non-rotative engagement with each other, the anchor being concealed by the bracket, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a car-door, of an attachment for preventing it from swinging outward, said attachment comprising a bracket adapted to engage the door, and provided in its back with an undercut groove, closed at its upper end, an anchor having a non-circular head occupying said groove, and means for preventing said head from turning, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination with a car-door, of an attachment for preventing it from swinging outward, said attachment comprising a bracket having in its back an undercut groove,

an anchor consisting of a perforated block occupying said groove and a bolt passing through said block and engaging the car, and means for preventing the block from turning, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a car and its door, of a bracket engaged by said door, an anchor secured to the side of the car, and means whereby said anchor is concealed by said bracket and detachably connected therewith, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination with a car and its door, of a bracket engaged by said door, an anchor separable therefrom, secured to the side of the car, and means whereby said anchor is connected to said bracket and has non-rotative engagement therewith, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination with a car and its door, of an anchor, a bracket engaged by the door, said bracket being provided with a socket and having in the rear face thereof a slot of less width than the greatest width of the anchor leading to said socket, whereby the bracket may be slidably connected with the anchor and the latter concealed thereby, substantially as set forth.

. JOHN HODGE.

Witnesses:

P. H. Conny, J No. J. WEHE. 

